Eat
and rest
Eating right
before the game is certainly important. However, the week leading up to big
bouts is not the time to make drastic changes in your normal diet. I try to cut
out all the crap like sweets and pizza but otherwise I eat pretty much the same
as I always do. I also aim to eat a little more carbs then usual, especially on
the night before the bout.
By far the
biggest challenge is what and when to eat on the actual bout day. Having once
eaten way too late in the day and suffered the consequences of vomiting in my
mouth multiple times during the bout, I don’t want to repeat that mistake. This
year at EROC, we had a very useful session from the coaches at Dynamic Sports
Academy. Their recommendation was to eat a bigger meal about 3 hours before the
bout and I have found this to work well for me. The optimal meal, at least
according to them, is a pasta salad with some sort of protein whether that may
be tofu or turkey. And interestingly white carbs work best just before the
sports performance, otherwise of course whole wheat is generally better. They
also recommended eating a granola bar and drinking one litre of water mixed
with a little bit of salt and sugar approximately 1 hour before. I am usually
pretty nervous by that point so I don’t really feel hungry. But forcing myself
to eat a little something shortly before the game has helped me to maintain my
energy all the way throughout the bout. Additionally, carbs have the benefit of
calming down your stomach when you are nervous.
Rest is another
big factor affecting performance on bout days. I try to rest at least two or better
yet three days before the bout. However, just sitting on the sofa isn’t a very
good idea as that can just lead to muscles becoming stiff. So I aim to do very
slow impact exercises for example swimming or pleasant walks with team mates
work well for me.
Getting
into the feeling
Mental
preparation plays a big part for me. It takes many forms. During the bout day, I
have a very specific play list. I alternate between angry rap and Katy Perry.
Somehow that is the key to me being in the perfect mood and feeling strong. For
some other people, I know bout outfits can have a similar role. If your ass
looks good, then it does great things on the track.
Just before the
bout, as part of the warm ups, my team also does a few mental exercises. We
each say something that we should keep in mind during the bout. For example, we’ll
always do everything 100% and we’ll always trust our teammates to also do their
part. Secondly, each player imagines their ideal jam: that one jam where
everything goes right. That’s usually the last thing we do before we go on
track feeling ready to win.
// Schlagerlöf
